Castle's Little Stories
by Jenna McKane
Summary: A collection of connected one-shots where Castle tells Beckett stories from his childhood/early adult years after he makes her a promise to tell her more about his past. Current: Castle tells Kate and a suspect how he fell in love with someone who he never saw after their first meeting.
1. Prologue

Kate sat across the table from a stranger, nothing new in her profession but this stranger was particularly interesting. She knew someone, everyone knew someone but she knew someone of great significance to Kate, Castle. She didn't know how she knew Castle but she knew him and that's all that really mattered. He was on the other side of the glass watching, observing because he refused to give up the identity of the women Kate was sitting across from. Kate knew who she was, Lisa Benview, the ex-wife of a director who was killed while staying in New York but that wasn't the identity Kate was talking about. Kate wanted to know who Lisa was to Castle, her Castle.

"Miss Benview," Kate said after giving herself time to process. "I'm sure you understand why you're here."

"Yes, someone murdered my ex-husband." Lisa said with no remorse. Kate looked to the file in front of her. She read over something that she'd already read at least five times. When Kate looked up she asked, "Do you have any idea who would want to kill your ex-husband?"

"You mean besides every person who can alibi out?" Lisa paused and looked Kate right in the eye then said, "There are so many people including myself that wanted him dead. I don't think I could point you in the right direction."

"You spoke to him on a regular basis. Did you notice anything out of the ordinary?"

"No, he wasn't acting weird. He went to work, he worked non-stop and then he went home and did God knows what with someone else's wife."

"He had affairs?" Kate said shocked. None of the evidence showed this but she's learned to believe anything, but verify it twice. "Many," Lisa responded. "I couldn't begin to count but I can give you the names of the ones I knew about."

"Yes, please."

"It'll be easier if I write them down. There's a lot."

"Yes, of course." Kate said. She reached under the file folder and pulled out the legal pad. She handed the pad and a pen to Miss Benview and waited for her to finish. Fifteen minutes later Lisa capped her pen and turned the legal pad toward Kate. "Those are all I can remember," Kate flipped through three pages of the legal pad they were full of names. Each line had two names on it. It would take forever to get through them. Kate thought to herself. "I'm sure they're more but I'm almost positive you'll find what you're looking for in those names." Lisa tapped the legal pad and then grabbed her pen and moved to the fourth page writing down one last name, she recapped the pen and looked up at Kate, "Am I free to go."

"Yes. I'll have an officer escort you out. If I need you,"

"I'll be at the same place you found me in." Lisa said in an affirmative voice.

Lisa watched as Kate walked out of the interrogation room and into the bullpen. She summoned an officer to take Lisa out of the precinct. Kate walked over to the murder board to see Ryan, Esposito and Castle standing in front of it. "You didn't watch the whole thing."

"You wanted me to watch her write down the names of her ex-husband's mistress'?" Kate didn't respond, she didn't need to, it was a stupid question to ask but she did it anyway. The murder board was full of pictures, timelines, and little bits of evidence but nothing stood out to her. She looked down to the legal pad in her hand and decided that this was her next best bet.

"Lisa gave me the names of her ex-husband's mistresses but it's going to take more than one person to go through them."

"Why?" Ryan and Esposito both asked at the same time.

"Her ex-husband was known for cheating, a lot. He didn't keep mistresses very long. But he liked his women so he had many." Castle piped in.

"And you know that because?"

"My mother, our Vic was a director. My mom knows them all and their personal lives." Castle responded quickly. Kate moved through the pages of the legal pad and ripped two out. She handed them to Ryan and did the same with the next two pages but handed them to Esposito. "Castle and I'll take the rest. Do background checks first, and then check alibis." With that Ryan and Esposito made their way over to their respective desks to begin working. Castle moved to his chair beside Kate's desk and sat down. He ripped of the top page and gave Kate the half full page.

Kate looked down to the legal pad and saw the last name that Lisa had written. It was circled and beneath it was written: _You want answers? Check her first. _She looked up at the name and her jaw dropped. She looked around to find Castle and saw that he had moved to the vacant desk behind hers to do background checks. She got up from her desk grabbed the legal pad and headed into the break room. On her way there she tapped Ryan's shoulder signaling him to come along with her.

"What's up?" Wordlessly she handed him the legal pad. She watched as his eyes traveled down to the last name listed. As he reads it, his head shot up, "Answers for what? The murder or why her," He pointed to the name on the pad. "Ex-husband knows our murder Vic's ex-wife."

"I don't know Kev," Kate said quietly. "I don't know."

"Ask him. He's not going to lie to you, you know that." Ryan told Kate positively. Ryan walked out of the break room and sat back down at his desk ignoring the glare he was receiving from Esposito. "Hey, Castle," Kate called out. "I need some help."

Rick looked up from the desk he was sitting at and made his way over to the break room. "Found our murderer already?" Castle asked cheekily. The expression on his face fell when he saw Kate's. "What's wrong?" Kate said nothing and didn't move from her position in the middle of the break room. Her eyes fluttered over the legal pad that was resting on the table. Rick stepped forward toward the legal pad and picked it up. After he read the legal pad he put it back down on the table. "I knew."

"You knew?" Kate inquired; it wasn't the answer she was expecting. She didn't know what else to say. "I knew that Meredith had an affair with the director." Nothing was making sense to her. "You knew that Meredith had an affair with our Vic and you didn't say anything?"

"It was a very long time ago, Kate."

"How long ago?" Kate said violently.

"When Meredith and I were still married." Rick said with his eyes down casted.

"Wait," Kate looked to Rick who still had his eyes trained on an imaginary spot on the floor. "She cheated on you?"

"Yes. Our Vic was her director at one point and I walked in on them. Our marriage ended shortly after that."

Kate didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to believe. Meredith had told her that their marriage ended, because he knew so much about her but she knew so little about him. She believed her, she really did but that's what made her a great actress Kate thought. "Rick, You're marriage with Meredith fell apart, because she cheated?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Not, because you hold your card close to the vest?"

"Kate, where is this going? What are you asking?"

"Do I really know who you are? Everything I know is information that has come from cases. Like this little bit."

"You've never asked."

"And when I do ask you things, you brush them off like they're nothing." She sighs and looks back up at him after a moment. "I want real answers when I ask questions. Not fake ones that you've strung together so that it looks pretty. I'm not going anywhere." Kate said in a tone that could only be described as angry disappointment. "Kate, my past isn't the easiest thing to define; it's even harder to talk about. Sometimes it's easier to give the fake answers than the real ones. No one is going to run away from a fake answer."

"But I'm not going to run away from the real one. Castle, I can't have you lie to me. I've got too much invested in this," She pointed between herself and Castle. "To be lied to."

"I don't know what to say Kate. I'm sorry? I am, I've lied to you but it was out of fear not out of malice." Rick says with a broken voice. "Promise me two things?" Kate requests

"Whatever you want." He responded and she nodded.

"Firstly, tell me everything truthfully, even if it scares you. Your skeletons are going to have to be a lot bigger than a failed marriage, because your ex-wife was unfaithful, to get me to leave."

"Secondly?"

"When we get home tonight I want you to tell me a story, any story from your past. It doesn't have to be outrageous. I just want to know something about you that isn't involved with a case, 'cause it feels like everything I know is directly related to a case."

"You've got yourself a deal." He said.

Kate grabbed the legal pad off the table and walked out the door of the break room. She stopped about ten steps outside of the room and turned around to say, "Are you gonna come and do your work?" Castle smiled and walked out of the break room toward the vacant desk he was using. He sat down and started working again, the only problem was that he was thinking about what story he was going to tell Kate tonight. He's got a million real ones.

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**A/N: Thank you for reading! **


	2. Missing Teeth

**A/N: ****So this idea wouldn't leave me alone so I decided to run with it. [More info at bottom]**

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Keys clattered against the dish set up on the table in the foyer. Kate and Castle took off their coats, scarfs and gloves and hung them up on their appropriate hooks. Kate walked into the living room and sat down on the couch to take off her knee high brown, leather boots while Castle walked to the kitchen to make them coffee.

"Don't think just because it's past midnight and our case is still open that you're getting off that easily." Kate said as she pulled off her first boot.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Castle said. "I've got the perfect story."

"I can't wait to hear it." Kate said enthusiastically. Rick stirred the sugar into the coffee and walked into the living room. He handed Kate her cup and sat down next to her. He put his cup down on the coffee table and reached behind him to grab the throw blanket Kate brought over last week. Kate snuggled into his side and he threw the blanket over them.

"Are you sure you want to do this now?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Stop procrastinating."

"Alright, this one's small but I thought you'd be happy with whatever I _truthfully _told you." Kate nodded into Rick's shoulder and sipped from her cup. "When I was in high school, I was very impressionable. I was the type of guy who would do anything as long as the popular kids were doing it."

"All the popular kids were playing hockey." Kate's head shot up to look at Rick. She had a smile on her face and her eyes said she had a billion questions. Rick shook his head and continued on with his story, "So naturally, I wanted to play hockey."

Kate scoffed and playfully said, "Naturally."

"My mom on the other hand didn't want me to. She was like the typical parent, worried about injuries. But I was persistent so she gave in finally. There was one problem though," Kate chuckled against his shoulder and said, "There always is."

"I knew nothing about hockey." Kate moved to a sitting position and her mouth was agape. She didn't know whether or not to laugh or tell him how stupid he was or both. But she just kept her mouth shut and enjoyed Castle's story telling.

"I could barely stand on the ice without falling over. Moving and shooting weren't my strong points." Castle took a deep breath and smiled to Beckett. "You're gonna like this. So it was our first practice, technically it was a try-out practice but it was still a practice. I had done some practicing on my own so that I'd be able to move around on the ice and I wasn't too bad."

"The coach wasn't really picky about the try-out order so he stuck me and this senior, who could play hockey in his sleep, together." Kate's laughter filled the loft as her brain began to think of endless ways this could end. "I was OK until the coach asked us to start shooting. I lined myself up in front of the net and took my shot. I fell down on the ice, because I slipped during the execution. The puck made it into the net but bounced off the side of it. The puck came back to where I was laying on the ground and knocked out two of my teeth. There was blood everywhere and I was the laughing stock of the popular boys for the longest of time. Not to mention my mouth hurt for weeks."

"Oh. My. God." Kate said barely catching her breath in between words. She was smiling and so was he. "That was perfect! Thank you, for telling me."

Castle nodded, "Of Course. I always keep my promises."

"Wait," Beckett said. "Which two teeth?"

"These two." Castle pointed to two teeth just off center. Kate's giggling returned and so did Castle's smile.

"Hey," Kate asked. "Can we do this more often?"

"I think I'd like that." Castle said as he placed a kiss to Kate's hairline. "My pride, not so much." He said jokingly. Kate smiled and buried herself further into Castle's shoulder. Castle moved his arm to around her waist and leaned back onto the couch so they were in a lying down position. Both of their eyes fluttered shut and they went to sleep with smiles on the face and warmth in their hearts.

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**A/N: I normally don't do two A/N's but I thought that I'd tell you what this is going to be. Essentially I'm going to be posting little one-shots that are Castle telling Beckett about his past. Some will be light like this one, some are going to be darker but all in all I think they will be fun. I'll probably update this weekly. Thank you for reading. **

**-Jenn**


	3. Angela Booth, The First Muse

The bullpen was silent; they were the only ones left. It had taken Kate and her team hours to finish their current case but was finished and wrapped up in a bow. Kate had a mound of paper work to do sitting on her desk but all she wanted to do was to go home and see Castle. Her mind went elsewhere somewhere during the case, Castle had left about halfway through the day with no explanation just that he'd see her at home when the case was done. She was intrigued with his sudden escape but she was more worried. It was like something in their current case irked him.

Kate pushed it out of her mind, along with the stack of paper work and grabbed her coat to leave to go home. She buttoned up her long, light brown coat and headed to the elevator. The elevator creaked on the way down just like it did every time someone used it. Her unmarked was in the parking lot but she wanted time to think. Castle had begun to open up to her more but the way he walked out today wasn't a good sign. Something in the case today had gotten a rise out of him and for the life of her she couldn't figure it out.

She took a cab to Castle's loft and paid the cabbie with the cash she had in her pocket. The loft was quiet and the only lights were coming from Castle's office. The keys on his keyboard were rapidly clicking away. It sounded like he was deep into a chapter so Kate went to the kitchen and made a cup of tea to go with the book she was about to devour for what felt like the millionth time. Each of Castle's bookcases held at least one of his books so on her way to their bedroom she grabbed a well read one off one of his shelves. She set the cup of tea she made on the nightstand on Rick's side of the bed and climbed in. She read the words she knew so well like it was the first time, still captivated in them and awed by them.

Castle clicked away, doing something he only did when he knew talking about what was on his mind would be hard. The keys created a rhythm and he never retracted anything. He just wrote his raw, unedited emotions. He knew that Kate would want answers for his sudden retreat from the precinct during the case today. This was his way of giving her answers to her questions. They had agreed on talking to each other but he couldn't bare the conversation. It would be too hard.

_The summer wasn't always fun in my life. I spent most of them in camps my mom sent me to; some were nice others were worse than eating your dinner off the floor of the subway. _He read the lines over and over. They spoke the truth. He would give this to Kate tonight or tomorrow morning, whenever he was done writing. He wanted her to know, he wanted her to hear his words even if they were written words.

About 45 minutes later he saw Kate take her cup of tea back to the kitchen and put it in the sink to be washed in the morning. She didn't bother him; she just walked by listening to the constant music his keys were making. He knew she was going to bed and wouldn't wait up for him any longer, she trusted him to give up his information in the morning.

When morning came around the bed was cold and empty to Kate. She sat up and looked around the bedroom. Castle was nowhere to be found but the bed was slept in and there was a letter on the side of the bed she usually slept on.

She picked it up and began to read it.

_Kate, I hope this will help with your questions you've got._

_The summer wasn't always fun in my life. I spent most of them in camps my mom sent me to; some were nice others were worse than eating your dinner off the floor of the subway. The summer in particular that'll give you answers was more like the later. _

_I was only ten when my mother sent to a camp in western New York. It was about thirty minutes south of Niagara Falls but I never saw got to see it until I was much older. The camp had a wooden fence that wrapped around the outside. When you stepped inside it was just like you'd expect, or at least what I expected, full of trees, flowers and, many cabins. There was an abundance of camp counselors ranging from high school freshman to 20 year old college students. There was one counselor in particular that made the summer better than it should have been but she was the only good thing about that summer. But ironically she was also the worst part about that summer. _

_The first four weeks went by without a hitch. I ate the disgusting food, played the games with kids and I had a great budding relationship with a counselor by the name of Angela Booth. Yes, the victim's deceased daughter. Angela had a rare form of terminal cancer I never got the name of. She was 17 and going to die but she wanted to spend her last probable summer being a counselor at the camp I was at. _

_Angela spent most of her day with my age group, so we became friends. Or as friend like as a 10 year old and a 17 year could be. I looked up to her, she was this girl who could light up the room with her smile and make you laugh with the cheesiest of jokes. I was inspired by her and I didn't even know she was dying. I wrote my first full length story during that summer and I let her read it, because she was my first muse. She was the first real-live person I used as inspiration. She's always in my mind when I'm writing without a muse, because for some reason even after her death she's still good at inspiring me. _

_What made that summer so terrible was the fact that Angela died eight weeks in. I went to her cabin to see what we were doing that day and all I saw was an ambulance, 5 counselors standing around crying and her mother. I never spoke to her mother, that's why she didn't recognize me but I her. Angela had died in her sleep, the cancer won. She was gone and I seldom left my cabin for the next four weeks. I cried nightly, I spoke to her ghost I thought existed at ten. I lost a friend, a muse and I thought I lost myself. Everything I wrote for a very long time after her death was always dedicated to her. _

_When I saw her mother's name on the murder board today, it didn't register right away. I had never met her, like I said, so when you mentioned that her only daughter, Angela died at a summer camp when she was 17 I thought it was just a coincidence. But if working with you has taught me anything it's that there is no such thing as a coincidence. When you showed Ryan and Espo the picture of her I was too shocked to say anything. I just nodded as you put the picture up on the murder board under relatives. _

_When I left today, I called my agent and asked her to look up Angela's grave so I could visit it sometime. It's here in NYC just a few blocks north of the precinct. I laid flowers down and talked to her grave. It was cathartic and inspiring. Some of what you heard me writing was a chapter in the next _**Nikki Heat**_ novel that included a character I've based on her. The rest of what you heard me writing was this. I hope you understand that I couldn't physically talk about this to you but I knew I could write it down, everything I was thinking. _

_Kate, I hope you enjoyed your millionth run through of one of my novels and sleeping on my side. If it's alright with you I'd like to go to Miss. Booth's funeral on Sunday and then to Angela's grave. You don't have to come with me Kate, but I'm asking you to. Thank you for the space yesterday, I appreciate it. Everything with the case just brought on old memories that I hadn't thought about in forever. _

_-Yours Always, _

_Rick _

When Kate was done had tears in her eyes and pain in her chest, she put it back on the bed and heard Castle clear his throat behind her. She turned around and a tear slipped from her eye. Castle made no movement but he asked, "You got it?" He pointed to the letter and she nodded. She sprung from the bed and into his arms. She began sobbing uncontrollably in his arms. His emotions that he poured into the letter got to her. She saw in his eyes the sincerity and heard it in his letter. She was touched that he shared this with her. She more touched by his actions, he wanted to go to Angela's grave again and he wanted to go to Angela's mother's funeral.

"I'll go." She said from inside his arms.

"Thank you." He whispered into her hair. "Thank you."

"Always."

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**A/N: I personally loved this chapter. Thank you for reading and review. **

**-Jenn**


	4. You can't steal my nose!

"Castle?" Kate called from inside the kitchen.

"Yeah Kate."

"Why did Alexis just text you saying that you couldn't steal her _nose_ because she was a _superhero_?" Kate responded, thoroughly confused at the joke the father-daughter duo shared. Rick laughed as he walked out of his office not mad that she read the text message from his daughter. Rick walked into the kitchen and grabbed his phone from the hand of Kate Beckett. He typed a clever response to Alexis and set the phone down on the counter waiting for the response. He wrapped his arms around Kate's frame and leaned them up against the counter.

"When I was five," He started. "My mother would always threaten to steal my nose. You know that little game parents play." Kate nodded and let him carry on. "Well one day while I was playing superheroes with a few of my friends, my mother found something that I had done. It wasn't too bad but it was probably inconvenient for her. To be honest I'm not even sure what it was I did but whatever. She called for me and I didn't answer, because I was too engrossed in the game I was playing." Kate chuckled and turned her head around to steal a kiss from Castle. He happily kissed her and let his hands draw lazy lines around the waist band of her jeans.

"My mother being her extravagant self," He told Kate. "Waltzed into the room where I was playing superheroes and told me that she was going to steal my nose if I didn't explain whatever I had done." Rick laughed and smiled at the memory he was thinking of, "I looked at her, a very confident five year old and said 'You can't steal my nose! I'm a superhero!" Kate was laughing at Rick's story. She could see it in him to say something like that to Martha but that still didn't explain why Alexis and him were talking about it almost 40 years later.

To answer her question Rick started back up, "When Alexis was about six my mother told her that story one day while I was out. When I came back from the meeting I was at, she walked up to me, in the way only a six year old could and said, 'Daddy, so if I'm a superhero you can't steal my nose.' From that day forward the only true 'punishment' I've ever threaten Alexis with was stealing her nose and every time she would respond with, "I'm a superhero dad, you can't steal _my_ nose!'" He took a breath and then his phone went off. He looked at it and saw it was Alexis responding to what he had said. He picked up his phone but continued to tell Kate the rest of the story, "It started out as a joke but it soon became a ritual that if I was ever going to punish her I couldn't because she was a superhero."

"What are you trying to punish her for today?"

"Ahh, now that Miss. Beckett is a secret." Castle said conspiratorially.

"Really? Really, Rick?"

"Really, Kate. In due time you'll find out I promise." After he stated that he went to his IPhone and deleted all his messages to Alexis so Kate couldn't snoop, because he wasn't going to give it up and she knew that. It was going to drive her crazy but she'd let it because she trusted him. He bent down to meet her lips sealing the promise with a kiss and dragged her by her hand off to bed.

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**A/N: Today I was assisting Saturday morning tap class and one of the little girls said to us, "You can't steal my nose, I'm a superhero!" I died. Too cute. **

**Thank you for reading and reviewing. I love reading them! **


	5. How to solve a nigthmare

"Castle!" She screamed. He fell to the ground, everything around him turned red, stained with his blood. She ran as fast as she could to his body, she saw the life slipping out of it. She fell to her knees hard and pressed her hands onto his heart. She pushed as hard as she could but the blood kept seeping through her fingers. She looked behind her momentarily and saw that Javier and Ryan were running over to her. When Esposito reached Castle's barely breathing body he applied his hands on top of Kate's. They both looked at each other and knew that he wouldn't make it but for her sanity she didn't move her hands and neither did Javier. She whispered things into Castle's ear, things only he'd make sense of, things that only he knew.

The paramedics arrived and Kate found herself sobbing into the shoulders on Esposito and Ryan. She wanted nothing more than to be with Castle, no what she wanted more than anything was to have one last moment with her love. "Castle." She screamed. "Castle." She sobbed.

"Kate." She heard. Her head shot up, it was his voice. Her shoulder was shook and her eyes shot open. Tears fell down her face. She looked to the clock and then to her scared lover not meeting his eyes. It was just a dream. He didn't say a thing just observed her, she didn't wipe her tears. She looked at her hands like the blood was still there. She looked up to him and stared. "Kate," He said quietly. "Let's go get you something to eat." She was confused. He didn't ask her anything; he just let it slip by. But for some reason she wanted him to pry, just this once. He held out his hand as he moved out of the king size bed they shared, she took it.

They walked silently to the kitchen. He went to the fridge and began pulling out breakfast food. It was 3 in the morning, way too early for breakfast, but Kate couldn't go back to sleep not after that dream. He started making eggs, just basic scrambled eggs. Then he went on to toast, bacon and other breakfast foods. He was almost finished with the bacon when Kate solemnly said, "You died." Castle's head shot up and his eyes bored into her waiting for an explanation. His hand deftly moved to turn the burner the bacon was resting on top of off. "I couldn't save you. We tried, Espo, Kev. We tried. But I watched you die."

"I'm right here."

"Yes but it felt so real, Castle. When I woke up it was as if your blood was still on my hands."

"Kate, eat this." He placed a plate of food she didn't see him make in front of her. She picked up the fork and began to eat her mind was running a mile a minute. She didn't know what Castle's play was but she knew it had a purpose. When she turned around to face the living room Castle was already sitting on the couch. When she walked into the living room area, he invited her to sit down. She curled herself into him and that's when she realized what his play was.

He didn't want her to talk, because she felt pressured. He wanted to get her mind off of the nightmare.

"Where did you learn that?"

"Learn what?"

"You never asked me why I screaming your name, or what I dreamt about. You let me tell you and got my mind off it at the same time."

"My mother."

"Martha?"

"No, the other one, Clarice." Kate slapped him on the arm playfully and then asked, "She used to do this for you?"

He nodded then said, "I used to have crazy nightmares, because I would watch too many horror films and never finish them. She wouldn't ask me what they were about; she would just suggest we do something." He laughed and Kate frowned with questions in her eyes. "One time, she suggested that we go people watch in central park. It was probably the funniest thing we've ever done. It was 2 am and we're sitting there watching homeless men making up our own dialogue. It was great!"

"I bet."

"But it worked. Every single time and it worked on Alexis too. But when Alexis and I did stuff, we destroyed the loft more times than I can count. Laser tag in the middle of the night is pure entertainment."

"But why didn't you pry?"

"My mother never did either; she knew that I'd eventually tell her. Just like you did. You'd get fed up with watching me cook and spill. And if I remember correctly, you did." Kate nodded and her eyes began to feel heavy but she didn't want to go to sleep. It was still too fresh; she wanted to stay curled in Castle's arms where she knew he was safe. "Kate, close your eyes."

"No." She responded sleep evident in her voice.

"I'm here. I won't leave you." She closed her eyes slowly and let the soft stories he was telling her drift her into a peaceful dream. He continued it long after she was asleep, because if it kept her happy and nightmare less, he'd do it till he died.

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**A/N: Thank you for all the kind words. **


	6. Bucket List Number ?

Kate woke up to the shrill of her cell phone. She wasn't on call this weekend so it confused her when it went off. Groggily she reached over to her phone that was resting on her nightstand. "Beckett." She answered. "Miss Beckett?" Kate shot up to a sitting position, "Mr. Castle has been in an accident." Kate's mind went blank, Castle was on his way back from a meet and greet in Boston. They had been on the phone only a few hours ago and he was just outside of New York then. "What hospital is he at?"

"Millard Fillmore." The person, presumably a doctor, on the other line responded. "Wait," Kate said before hanging up. "Why did you call me and not his mother?"

"Miss Beckett, you're listed as his next-of-kin." Kate's jaw dropped but she knew she didn't have time to think about that. She had to get to the hospital and see Castle. Kate ran out to her car, in Rick's sweatpants and sweatshirt each two sizes too big. She put the keys in the ignition with a shaky hand and she began to drive to Millard Fillmore.

After breaking what felt like every traffic law, Kate arrived at the hospital 25 minutes after she received the call. She threw her badge in her window and ran into the hospital through the emergency room doors. As soon as she spotted the nurse's station she wanted to go up the nurses and start shouting at them but she knew she'd get no place with that so she walked up to the nurse's station as calmly as she could. "Hello," she said. "My name is Kate Beckett. I was called because Rick Castle is here."

"Ah yes," a nurse with blonde shoulder length hair and an oval face, dressed in light pink scrubs looked up from her computer. She stood up then walked toward the counter Beckett standing at. "Mr. Castle is in room 12. He's awake and talking but in pain." Kate nodded and booked it to room 12. It was a corner room so she walked passed 11 other rooms in the emergency wing. Some people were evidently in pain and some looked like they were holding on to their last breath.

When she reached Castle's room she paused, took a deep breath and braced herself. She didn't know what she was going to see, but she _had_ to see him. She cautiously knocked on his door, it was shut three quarters of the way and she didn't want to intrude. "Kate," Rick said in a pained voice. "Come in."

"Oh God!" Kate gasped as she walked into the room. Rick's arm was bandaged, his forehead had stiches and his ribs were wrapped. She walked over to his bed and sat down on the edge. Rick reached out to her hand and pulled her closer. She looked worried, like she was going to break him. "What happened?"

"I hit black ice." Rick said as he stroked her wrist.

"And the Ferrari?"

"The Ferrari is totaled."

"I hope you didn't do this on purpose." Kate said with humor in her voice.

"No, crossing it off on the bucket list is just a perk. At least this time I didn't break anything."

"This time?" Kate asked confused.

"Yeah, I've been in an accident before."

"Rick, please." Kate pleads, letting him know that they've come this far and it wouldn't be fair to keep this from her.

"I was 18. It was pretty bad. I broke my fibula and sprained my wrist." Rick responded

"What happened?" Kate asked as she began to play with his fingers. She traced each one and then brought it to her mouth for a kiss. She continued this while he explained his story. "It was a late night in January. It was maybe 3 AM and the snow was coming down in buckets. It was coming down too fast for the plows and slat trucks to keep up." He paused and looked their intertwined hands. "I hit black ice on the highway. My car flipped twice and then slid into the guardrail."

"Oh God!" Kate gasped. She wanted nothing more than to hug him but she was positive that his ribs were bruised and hugging him would cause pain. "I was told," he continued. "I should have died. But I just came out of it with a broken fibula and a sprained wrist."

"God, Rick!" She started to cry. She was glad he was OK but she knew that what happened that night could have easily happened tonight. "I'm so glad you're OK." She voiced. He nodded and then asked, "Did you call Alexis and my mother?"

"Not yet, I wanted to see how bad you were before I began to worry them. Speaking of your mother, why isn't she your next-of-kin?"

"Kate," He started. "I work with you every day. If something happened to me it would likely be in your presence. I thought it'd be easier for them. If you-"

"Rick, I'm happy to be your next-of-kin, I just wanted to know _why_." Kate replied, dismissing his worries. "I live with you Rick, obviously I'm OK with you having me as your next-of-kin. You're mine too."

"Really?"

"Yes. What you said is true. If something happens I'll be with you and it'd be easier for whoevers around. But I don't want to talk about this now; all I want now is you, at home and safe.

"I think I can arrange that." A doctor voiced from behind them. They turned to face him. "These here are your discharge papers. You're all set but you have to be careful, those ribs will hurt."

"Thank you," replied Castle.

"You're welcome Mr. Castle. Miss Beckett, am I to assume you'll be with him?"

"Yes."

"Take care of him and make sure he takes his pain meds."

"I will." The doctor walked out of the room and Kate turned toward Rick. "Let's go home." She said.

"Please." He replied, wanting to get out of the hospital and into his own bed with Kate.

"Hey," Kate asked.

"Yeah?"

"Can I come with you to buy the next Ferrari?"

"What? Oh…uh yeah. You know what you like?"

"Yes, I do and so do you. But try not to crash this one. I don't want to have to christen another one." Kate said with a smile on her face and humor in her voice. This night wasn't what she expected it to be, she was glad it was almost over. She could wait to get home and crawl into bed with Rick.

* * *

**A/N: I got inspired after almost being in an accident the other day. **

**Thank you for reading and reviewing. Lots of Love! **


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